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Bar Botanica opens at Fragrant Gardens site in Erina

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Julia and Dan Hughes' Bar Botanica, at the Fragrant Gardens haunt in Erina.
Julia and Dan Hughes' Bar Botanica, at the Fragrant Gardens haunt in Erina.Supplied

The NSW Central Coast has already taken early points in 2019 as a food region on the move.

John Singleton's ambitious the Bon Pavilion put Gosford in the food news, and Lucky Bee's recent parlaying of its just closed Woy Woy pop-up into a permanent Hardys Bay fixture has brought a little extra colour to the area.

And we're loving Julia and Dan Hughes' Bar Botanica, at the Fragrant Gardens haunt in Erina.

Bar Botanica's home is a charming mud hut.
Bar Botanica's home is a charming mud hut.Supplied
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Dan, part of the alumni at Three Blue Ducks in Bronte, has been churning out his award-winning Mr Goaty Gelato from the space for a few years, but the addition of Bar Botanica has put it on the to-do food list.

Central Coast locals and visitors do not live on gelato alone, so it's lucky Hughes has Michelin restaurant experience.

He's punching out a chicken liver parfait, ploughman's lunch and house-baked pastries from the charming mud brick hut.

Scoops of Mr Goaty Gelato.
Scoops of Mr Goaty Gelato.Supplied

Open Wed-Sun 10am-4pm.

Bar Botanica, 25 Portsmouth Road, Erina, barbotanica.com.au

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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